


Home To Roost

by Interrobang



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Dadzo, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 20:24:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12240018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Interrobang/pseuds/Interrobang
Summary: Set in the Fold Your Wings 'verse by Deviation: Hanzo is injured on a mission and has to deal with his young daughter's reaction, which is...not great. He and the other Overwatch Members do their best to distract her.





	Home To Roost

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Deviation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deviation/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Fold Your Wings](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10043345) by [Deviation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deviation/pseuds/Deviation). 



> This is set in Deviation's Fold Your Wings AU, which you can read here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/10043345/chapters/22380761
> 
> They commissioned me MONTHS ago to write 5000 words, and I'm pleased to finally post it. It's late because I went a little overboard and wrote almost double what they asked for...I just couldn't quite find a good stopping point. This was a labor of love. I would highly encourage you to read the fic it's based on. I tried not to interrupt any important plot points, since it's still a WIP. I hope it can be read alongside it easily.

It was common in Japan for children to sleep in their parents’ bed-- but Hanzo’s family was never what one would call typical. He afforded the comfort of a shared bed to his daughter now, but it was a luxury he’d never had as a child. 

He and Genji had always been separated from his parents by the curtain of responsibility. As children, Hanzo and Genji were mostly kept at arm’s length... Except on occasions when they were needed for presentation, like perfect little dolls holding all the dreams of the clan on their shoulders. 

Dinners and parties were the most frequent cause for the two of them to be dressed up and trotted around for the elders to appraise. It always ended with a late-night ride home, he and his brother tuckered out in the back of the car. 

Hanzo remembered these rides fondly, if forlornly. In the midst of his current crisis, a memory rushed back to him: flickering street lamps blinking by in the night, a radio humming quietly, and his mother’s cool hand petting the back of his head. He thought of a small Genji snuffling next to him, drooling onto his dress clothes, docile as a kitten.

Lying in the back of the dropship-- holding what felt like most of his organs in manually-- brought to mind the same half-asleep haze, the same clouded dark and rushing lights. This time though, instead of the hum of the radio, there were only frantically beeping monitors, weapons being checked and rechecked, and the hazy bustle of his comrades rushing around him. 

The hand that pet his hair now was no feminine structure, no motherly force there to soothe his dreams. It was large and coarse and hot; no longer petting but  _ yanking  _ as Jesse-- for it  _ was  _ Jesse, not his lost mother-- pulled him up and away from the blissful dark of unconsciousness. 

“C’mon, Hanzo,” he pleaded. “Stay awake, stay awake. Don’t you dare slip away on me.”

“‘M Not...I am not,” Hanzo murmured. His eyes wouldn’t un-cross. Everything was light and rushing and he thought giddily of Asuka chasing pigeons in the park, their fat bodies ruffled as she shrieked her delight.

Oh.  _ Asuka _ .

He swallowed thickly and grunted, squeezing at his abdomen. Blood seeped through his fingers and pooled in the folds of his clothes, sticky and wet. Jesse’s hand was still in his hair, tight enough to pull a few strands loose. Angela was at his side in an instant, battle suit torn but caduceus in hand. 

She stabilized him enough to take the responsibility for keeping his guts together away from his bare hands. He passed out before Jesse could even let go of him.

\-- <

Even with a biotic field as a nightlight, Hanzo would be out of commission for days. He wasn’t allowed to move from his bed in the medical ward. He was still in pain. He was hardly even allowed solid foods. It was lonely, despite the constant flow of visitors in the beginning. Asuka stayed with him during that time as well, too scared to leave her father alone.

She was of an age now where school should have been a priority, but their circumstances were admittedly strange. Hanzo had enrolled her with an online school, though he didn’t completely trust its claims of granting children a thorough education. Asuka sat at his bedside in his medbay room, Hanzo’s tablet on her lap, and did her homework while he rested. The tasks usually consisted of things like counting fish or naming animals that started with different letters. The learning methods were different from what Hanzo grew up with-- enough that he felt awkward trying to help. 

It worried him further that she stopped speaking shortly after he came back with a hole in his stomach. She’d sit by him and work, but even though she seemed absorbed in her task it was a rigidly silent affair. Hanzo kept trying to start a conversation with her-- asking her what she wanted for lunch or what she was drawing. The break in talk wasn’t immediate. In fact, it was like her words just dropped off, petering out until she was struck silent, staring at him like she couldn’t find language to communicate what she felt.

In the last year, Asuka had been exposed to several languages. Usually she was fine-- in fact, she’d been picking up bits and pieces and using them to make her own cobbled-together speech patterns. She  _ had  _ been mashing together five of them when she had fallen silent again. It discomfited Hanzo.

“It’s not that unusual,” Angela said when Hanzo brought it up during a bandage replacement. Asuka was absent from the room, drawn to lunch by Genji. Angela patted Hanzo’s shoulder comfortingly. “Sometimes children in extremely multilingual environments have trouble choosing a language to communicate in.”

“She has  _ always  _ spoken  _ Japanese _ ,” Hanzo growled. Asuka had hardly spoken to him today, not even the usual quiet, excited whispers about her latest dream or what she had done. “And she was learning English before we came here. What of that?”

Angela shrugged. “As far as I can tell, she’s fine. She’ll adapt eventually.”

The silence finally broke--  _ violently _ , like the crest of a tsunami crashing onto shore after drawing the whole ocean up into its arms. 

\--

Genji had been sitting with her at a table in the cafeteria while Hanzo was getting work done on his wounds, Jesse nearby and entertaining the little girl with card tricks and stunts he could do with his mechanical hand. She’d been distracted for a bit, but was increasingly hard to keep corralled at their little table. Finally, after nearly an hour, Asuka spoke for the first time in over a day.

“Can I go see daddy now?” She asked in a tentative voice, poking at the remains of her lunch with a finger. 

“Not right now, Asu-chan,” Genji said calmly, wiping her hands off as he spoke. His face-plate and most of his armor was off, leaving himself unusually casual in a baggy borrowed shirt. Asuka was visibly uncomfortable when she couldn’t see his face, so he had left the mask off as much as possible around her. He was unused to having to hide his emotions from view, and so his worry was plain when Asuka looked up at him searchingly.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s fine, sweetpea,” Jesse piped in, waving his hand to bring her attention back to him. “Say, is that a quarter behind your ear?” He reached up, about to produce another coin, but Asuka ducked out the way and slipped off the cafeteria table bench entirely, sprinting for the door.

“Asuka, no! Get back here!” Genji ran after her. Asuka was quick for a six-year-old, but not faster than a trained ninja. He picked her up around the middle, leaving him with a struggling armful of flailing child.

“I want Tou-san!” Asuka screeched, pummelling her tiny fists into the soft synthetic tissue of Genji’s side. “Let me see him!”

“Daddy is...Daddy is in the middle of a meeting, Asuka.” He flinched away from her sharp-- if small-- nails as they flew at his face. You can’t see him.”

“I want him!  _ Let me go! _ ” She wriggled and writhed until she escaped Genji’s arms, tripping in her haste to get to the hallway leading towards Hanzo’s room. Jesse exchanged a boggled glance with Genji. That hadn’t been Japanese-- or even English. 

“Portuguese?” Jesse muttered. “Where the heck’d she learn that?”

“Lúcio, probably. They talk a lot.” Genji shouted, huffing after Asuka. Her feet pattered on the tile floor as she flew down the hall. Jesse and Genji were close, close enough to see her stumble, nearly fall, but right herself again as she turned the corner. Jesse winced in sympathy as he heard a dull  _ thud _ of flesh meeting wood. When they finally caught up to her, Asuka was hanging off the door handle, struggling with the locked door.

Genji grabbed Asuka’s wrist and tugged her away. She was sobbing, hanging on the handle as silent tears rolled down her ruddy cheeks. 

“Asuka, you  _ cannot  _ run away like that.” Genji’s voice was low, his Japanese rapid and serious. “You  _ know  _ what could happen if you run without telling an adult.”

Jesse, having run over as well (albeit not as quickly) scooped her up. After a year she should have been used to it, but still she thrashed against Jesse’s hold, kicking him square in the stomach. He grunted but held her all the tighter for it, patting her back until she broke down against his shoulder. Genji lay a hand on her back, rubbing soothingly. 

“He’ll be okay, kiddo. Trust me on that. Your dad is tough. He’ll be back in no time.”

Genji suddenly perked up, casting a sly smile at Jesse.

“Say, Asuka, what do you think about making Papa some dinner?”

\--

Hanzo  _ hated  _ being confined. The wound in his guts went deep, and though biotic fields and Angela’s caduceus could work miracles, they couldn’t heal internal bleeding and perforated organs  _ instantly _ . At least it was halfway over already, with only a few more days in bed before he was allowed to move around. Angela was reluctant to leave him under the effects of her staff for too long. It hadn’t been tested for long term use; only brief stints in the midst of battle. 

And so he waited.

The whole thing made him antsy. He didn’t have a lot of agency while stuck in bed. He wouldn’t be able to run if he was cornered, and he’d be even  _ less  _ capable of protecting his daughter. He was restless, legs moving without his permission in the middle of the night. Normally Asuka would have woken from his jostling and shoved him until he stopped, but while in the medical ward he found himself kicking the rails of his bed and waking up only when he banged a toe on the unforgiving metal.

After a long day of check-ups and tests, hearing Asuka weeping outside his door was the final straw. He broke down and cried himself, unwilling to open the door and let Asuka see him in such a disgraceful state. Instead he listened carefully as Genji and Jesse herded her away for some unknown task.

He napped fitfully, weary even in the pale summer light that came through his room’s window. The tablet sat abandoned on the table next to some crayons and paper scraps. Ah. She had forgotten it. Well... She would return soon enough. Perhaps he could try and entertain her when she came for a hug before bedtime. The other agents had been looking after her at night, but still...he was used to having her tiny body next to him while he slept. The hospital bed felt too large even with its narrow mattress underneath him, creaking the way a futon never would have.

He contemplated this silently as the afternoon passed into evening. Asuka had been gone a long time... Hearing her shout after a full day of silence had been jarring. He awaited her with dread in his heart.

She came sooner than he’d anticipated: a few scant hours after he’d heard her in the hall she was back with her uncle in tow, carefully holding a bowl that was almost too big for her hands to wrap around. She cradled it unsteadily, watching it like a hawk as she waddled into the room.

“We made okayu!” She chirped, thrusting the bowl towards Hanzo. A bit of it threatened to spill, but the porridge was thick enough that it didn’t slosh around too much. Hanzo peered in: rice, chicken, bits of carrot and green onion, even some daikon. He sniffed, and took in the savory smell of the hot broth and meat. Hanzo looked to them and smiled, raising his eyebrows expectantly. Asuka’s cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright despite still being a little puffy from crying.

“‘We?’ Did you help?”

“No!” She pouted. “ _ I _ made it. Mister Jesse helped me.”

Hanzo looked at Genji, surprised. “Not you?”

Genji laughed. “I provided the recipe, albeit from a long-faded memory. Jesse and Asuka did all the rest.”

“Hm!” Hanzo grunted his approval and dug in. Asuka watched vigilantly, chewing on her lower lip. Her big eyes searched his face as he ate.

“Oh!” Hanzo sat up, clutching his hands to his chest. “This is wonderful! Are you sure you didn’t hire a secret chef?”

Asuka’s face broke out in glee. 

“Tou-san!” She squealed. “I told you! Mister Jesse and I made it!”

“I don’t believe it,” Hanzo said, shaking his head. “This is much too good.”

As he ate, Asuka chattered away about how Jesse surprised her with knives that she could use without fear of hurting herself on the adults’ tools. 

“They’re not like grown-up knives, Tou-san,” she gushed. “They’re puppies!”

At Hanzo’s inquisitive eyebrow, Genji laughed and showed him a picture on his phone: Jesse and Asuka side by side in the watchpoint kitchen, holding funny-looking tools. They were blunt blades with a cute orange and black design, little eyes drawn on and tails on the handle. The child-safe tool was completely dwarfed by Jesse’s hand, and Hanzo watched a short, shaky video of Jesse showing Asuka to make a ‘kitten paw’ with her other hand to keep her fingers safe while she cut with amusement. 

In the video, Genji narrated for them how to make the dish, and together Jesse and Asuka stirred rice and broth and add their chopped vegetables. Asuka seemed entranced, her face pink with excitement. Jesse had an amused grin plastered on under his beard. He winked at the camera, and the Genji on screen said  _ “Jesse, I didn’t think you cooked.” _

_ “I’m more of a chili man myself, _ ” Jesse said, guiding Asuka’s hand as they stirred the pot together.  _ “But I don’t reckon that’d be so good for your brother right this minute.” _

The video ended with a shaky shot of Asuka leaning so close to the pot that Hanzo was surprised she didn’t fall in.

Hanzo laughed as much as the stitches would allow, laying back in his bed and gingerly rubbing his stomach. He scooted over with a small groan, patting the bed next to him. Asuka immediately clambered in, elbows akimbo. At least she had the good sense to kick off her shoes beforehand, thanks to Hanzo’s insistence on keeping his space tidy. Genji gently gathered them up for her and set them by the foot of the bed for later before taking his own seat at the small table.

The silence between the three of them was comfortable. Hanzo was beginning to get drowsy now that he was full of good food, and he was content to sit with his daughter at his side while he browsed his tablet.

But Asuka wouldn’t be ignored. With absolutely no sign of the previous day’s silence, she sat still by his side for all of thirty seconds before she began chattering.

“Did grandma make you okayu when you were sick, Tou-san?” 

Hanzo stopped and slowly set down his tablet while he considered how to answer. Should he tell her of his childhood? The distant parents, the formal meals separate from family time? He had a few fond memories of his mother, but they were spread over many years, isolated incidents of uncharacteristic domesticity.

Genji answered for him before he could work out what to say.

“Not often, Asu-chan. Our mother had many things to do, but she showed her love in other ways.” Hanzo eyed his brother’s bare and open face with trepidation. His brother winked, eyes twinkling. “She taught your papa how to make pretty things out of paper. Would you like him to teach you too?”

She whipped her head around, looking at Hanzo expectantly, eyes wide. Hanzo sighed heavily, in that moment hating Genji. “I should have known it would come to this.” Looking around the room, his eyes landed on Asuka’s pile of paper for coloring and schoolwork. “Genji, pass me a few sheets.” He sat up with a pained grunt as his brother brought over some of the scribbled-on worksheets. Hanzo tapped the pile, then Asuka’s nose. She giggled, the way she always did when Hanzo was being silly. It still felt strange to do it in front of-- well, not a stranger. His brother. Hanzo smiled, then picked up a piece of paper.

“Let me show you, little bird.”

After Hanzo got her started, Asuka filled his room with clumsy paper animals, flowers, boxes, and stars. That night, Hanzo dreamed of a parade of paper creatures: a tiger, a bear, a monkey, a dragon, all waltzing around his walls under starlight. He dreamed of the same creatures made by his own fumbling child hands, and of the sharp lines of the accompanying figures of his mother’s work. 

He dreamed of the few times he was allowed, for once, to  _ just  _ be a child.

The other members of their little band took over bedtime duty with Asuka when they could be spared. She didn’t sleep well alone. Hanzo knew this well, and asked for someone to check in on her regularly. When possible, Hanzo wanted someone to look after her through the day as well. It ate away at Hanzo, both to have Asuka so far away at night and to have to rely on others so much. It felt...shameful. Disgraceful. He had been able to defend them so far only because they kept each other close and outsiders far away. Even after a year, he still didn’t completely trust his coworkers. However... it was nice to know that someone was nearby when Asuka woke in the middle of the night calling out for him.

Hanzo worried-- after all, he was used to having her tiny body nearby as he slept-- but he was able to reluctantly admit that the reprieve was kind of nice. At least in the context of his tiny bed, he amended quickly. He missed her, truly. He had gotten used to the feeling of her warmth next to his, the sound of her sleeping even as he stayed vigilant through the smallest hours of the morning.

\--

On his third night in the infirmary, he woke with a crushing weight on his chest, his bandages pulled taut when something pushed itself into his side. He groaned and checked his sheets: Asuka had wedged herself into his narrow hospital bed, her child-shape all elbows and knees clumsily arranged around him. He chuckled tiredly with fondness for his daughter and rearranged them, grunting as his wound twinged. Then-- despite the loud creaking and squeaking of his rickety hospital bed-- he heard the distinct soft shuffle of sock on tile. He looked up; not startled, but tired, his mind in groggy disarray.

Jesse was standing in his doorway, sleep-rumpled in an undershirt and flannel pants with a soft look on his face. 

“She’s been wakin’ up every night, Hanzo,” he said calmly. “Athena let me know so I could check on her. She misses her pa, I reckon. She wouldn’t calm down until I brought her to see you, and well…” he shrugged, and the soft fabric of his t-shirt rode up just enough to reveal a sliver of his hairy stomach. “Figured it’d be good for her to see you’re okay.” He paused, brow wrinkling in concern. “You  _ are  _ okay, yeah?”

Hanzo nodded and patted Asuka’s hair. She smacked her lips in her sleep, already dreaming again. Hanzo hoped it was a good one, not one of the ones that left her whimpering by dawn. 

“I am doing better, thank you. And thank you for watching her.”

“Ain’t a problem,” Jesse said, waving off Hanzo’s words with one hand. “We’re all pitching in.”

There was a lull as McCree blinked tiredly at Asuka in Hanzo’s bed, an unreadable expression on his face. It was something conflicted, something tender that he probably didn’t want to touch. Hanzo was unsure how to proceed with this silence. He picked at a loose thread in his blanket to distract himself while he waited for Jesse to say something else. He seemed like he had something else on his mind, words just barely caught in his throat. 

The auxiliary lights in Hanzo’s room glowed soft and yellow, and they cast into shadow Jesse’s loose hair and the wrinkles in his pajamas. He looked strange without the hat; he used it like an extension of his body language, and even now he ran his hand through his hair like he’d meant to reach up to adjust it. It made Hanzo self-conscious of his own casual appearance, unprotected middle and child at his side. Then it struck him: every person in the building fought viciously for what they believed in. After all, it was what got him into the stupid hospital bed in the first place. But they all  _ lived _ , too, nighttime troubles and bad dreams and all. If anyone could understand night terrors and haunts from childhood, it was probably Jesse.

“Is there something on your mind, Jesse?” Hanzo asked, whispering so as to not disturb the child tucked into his side.

Jesse shook his head. “Not much. Just…” He hesitated.

Hanzo tilted his head to one side, raising an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“When I was a kid, I used to sneak into my Ma’s bedroom every night. Curl up just like that, even though her bed was barely big enough for her alone. When I got big enough she made me quit it, but-- well, I missed it when I got older. We grew apart by the time I was a teen, for the usual reasons.”

Hanzo nodded, empathetic even if his own situation was different. “I often wondered what it would be like to have had that closeness with my parents. They were...not the affectionate sort.”

“I got in a gang pretty young, I guess, saw some shi-- uh, stuff--” He corrected himself despite Asuka’s snores. “--before I should have.”

“I…” Hanzo swallowed. “I as well. I was told it was necessary to prepare me for the life ahead of me. When I look back on it with a more experienced eye, I think that my father and the men that followed him found amusement in my shock at how quickly life could be spilled on the floor.”

“Exactly. It’s not something a kid should  _ see _ . And I think it’s eating at her, even though we don’t let her  _ near  _ combat. She’s restless, especially with you in this god forsaken sterile trap. I was thinking-- you ever train her in any of that fancy martial arts stuff?”

Hanzo fought the urge to stiffen up, knowing it would only wake Asuka and aggravate his wound. Instead, he tried his best to sound civil, keeping his voice icy cool. “I have not taught her much of the offense aspects, but she knows how to do some basic yoga forms and where to stomp to get someone to let go of her.” He smiled ruefully, one corner of his mouth tweaking up even as his eyes remained sharp. “You should have her show you some time. She is quite fierce.”

Jesse’s own mouth turned up on one side in grim amusement. “I saw a bit of that the other day. But listen. One thing she’s gonna be doing a lot of-- and don’t get me wrong here, I don’t mean this as a threat-- is reacting. And I was just-- I was thinkin’--” He stopped, scratching at the stubble under his chin as if unsure how to continue. “Aw, nevermind. It ain’t important.”

Hanzo raised an eyebrow to prompt him. He could tell where it was going, and he didn’t like it, but he’d rather Jesse get it out now.

“Please, say what you have to say.”

Jesse let out a long breath, letting the air whoosh through his barrel chest. His voice was uncharacteristically small and unsure when he finally answered.

“Maybe we should get her doing a bit of training?”

Hanzo’s face went blank. He knew it was coming, but “training” from Jesse often meant grueling hours in simulations or practice with firearms in the range, chasing bots and practicing rolling away from the resulting shrapnel. 

“Goodnight, McCree.”

“Aw, c’mon, I don’t mean it like that. Just small stuff. Tuck-and-roll, and--”

“Good _ night _ .”

Jesse turned away with wasn’t quite a huff, but certainly wasn’t the most companionable of tones, either.

“Fine then, suit yourself. See you around, friend.”

Hanzo leaned back into his bed, quiet despite the thoughts now ricocheting around his brain. He tucked a stray lock of hair behind Asuka’s ear and watched while he listened to McCree retreat down the hall, socks padding quietly along the linoleum. Asuka’s face was lax in sleep, her cheeks round with youth and her lashes long. Hanzo could see the distressingly similar features of her mother in her face, more apparent when she wasn’t bouncing around with all the energy of the universe. She was like her mother in other ways too, but...she had an edge to her that Hanzo wished she didn’t need.

He closed his eyes to think, breathing deep and feeling Asuka breathe in return against him.

\--

Jesse’s words echoed in Hanzo's mind the entire following day. Asuka  _ did  _ seem restless, paying less attention to her lessons and going sullen at odd times. Even the origami didn’t distract her for long, her failed attempts at a horse leading to her crumpling up the colorful paper and throwing it on the floor with a whine of frustration. Though it was no silence from his child, it was still worrying how badly she was acting contrary to all of her previous behaviors. 

“Pick that up, Asuka. Where does trash go?”

She sighed. “It goes in the trash can. I can’t make it work!” She scowled, but picked up the paper all the same. She examined it to see if it was still usable, but the damage had been done. This time, it landed neatly in the trash.

“It just takes practice, little bird,” Hanzo said patiently. “You’ll figure it out someday on your own, and then you can show me new shapes that  _ I  _ don’t know.”

Her pout turned into a scowl, eerily similar to his own. Or so he had been told by Genji a number of times. “I want to do something else, Tou-san. I’m  _ bored. _ ”

Hanzo shrugged, but gestured around. “Homework?”

“Done for the whole week. It’s just reading. I’m already good at that, but the teacher said I’m not allowed to read ahead because I’ll forget stuff, even though I  _ won’t,  _ because I’m not stupid and I don’t do that and--”

Hanzo stopped her in the middle of her rant. “You are six years old. That is old enough for restraint. Your teacher wants you to read at a certain pace, so you will do it.”

“But  _ Papa! _ ”

“Enough, little one. I taught you better than this.”

It broke his heart when he heard her huff and grumble and settle down once more on the chair. He was afraid that he was becoming too much like his father.

Jesse must have said something to the others about Hanzo's mood, because his trickle of visitors was slow that day, presumably because people wanted avoid his ire. Were they all of the same mind about Asuka? Perhaps, he thought suspiciously, Jesse was just voicing the group’s opinion. He frowned, suddenly irritated at his teammates. They didn’t know what was best for his family. Besides, Asuka was never going to fight, not truly. She didn’t need the training. He had sworn to protect her, always.

\--

The following days were long. Asuka still did her work and read with Hanzo during the day and sometimes she even came in to snuggle for a little bit before bed, but she reacted to being confined even more poorly than her father. She wasn’t allowed to go very far around the base, what with the expensive equipment and long list of repairs still necessary. The isolation was taking a toll on her, just as Hanzo felt it grate on his own mind. She got distracted from her schoolwork more easily, and playing word games with an equally bored Hanzo could only entrance her for so long. She started whining after what Hanzo thought could only have been a few blessed seconds of silence. 

The difference between Asuka at night and Asuka during the day was glaring. And exhausting, Hanzo added silently. He’d give anything to have some semblance of consistency.

He tried cajoling and kind words to get Asuka back to her schoolwork, but nothing worked. There just wasn’t any more for her to  _ do. _ Did she need more of a challenge? Where could he get age-appropriate books around here? There wasn’t exactly a library on the tiny rock of an island the base was built into. 

Asuka kicked her legs in her chair and sighed heavily, her whole body sagging every few minutes with drama. Half of Hanzo was glad that she could express herself this way after a full year of safety (a year of isolation, he thought with guilt plucking at his heartstrings). The other half wanted to tape her to the chair just to keep her still.

Lúcio dropped in just when Hanzo felt like he was about to break down and yell at his daughter. His fury at his own child chilled him. At least Lúcio was a pleasant surprise and a much-needed break from the monotony of white walls and constant beeping. Asuka sat up straight in her seat the second he appeared in the doorway. Her hands clutched her school tablet tightly. She was clearly eager for any distraction the musician could provide. 

When he walked into Hanzo’s medbay room that particular day, Lúcio’s hair was down and he was dressed casually, a hoodie hanging big and baggy over athletic leggings. He carried his simpler roller blades--not the ones he used to fight in-- tied by the laces and slung over his shoulder.

“Hello,” Hanzo said pleasantly, trying to tamp down his emotions. “Did you need something?”

Lúcio held up his phone and shook it a little. He started to unlock it before he even finished speaking.

“I was working on something. Thought you might want to give it a listen.” He threw a smile at Asuka. “You can let Asu over here in on it too, if you want.”

Hanzo let Lúcio connect his phone to the little speaker kept in the medbay and began the song. Asuka sat primly in her seat-- by all appearances she focused on her task, though she slyly looked over at Hanzo every now and then as the song began. 

The music washed over him as he closed his eyes and leaned back into his bed. A chorus of horns faded into a bass that beat low and regular, like a heartbeat that let the brass rise up into a higher octave-- met by maracas and other instruments he couldn’t even begin to identify. It rode up his spine and made his head tingle with the need for--something. He couldn’t put it to words, but whatever it was it was  _ powerful _ .

“This is very good,” Hanzo said. He struggled to stop the small bit of giddy anxiety he felt from rising as the beat picked up its pace. “Raw-- but hopeful.” He carefully shifted so he was sitting more upright. At least these days, that small task wasn’t so taxing. “And energizing.”

Lúcio looked carefully at Hanzo, then glanced at Asuka at the table. Her eyes darted away as she pretended to work again. 

“What do you think, Asuka?” 

Asuka shot up in her chair, practically bouncing along with the beat. 

“It’s good!” She said in her limited Portuguese. “Very exciting.”

“Does it make you want to dance?” Lúcio answered in kind. He rolled his hips and did a shimmy, holding out his hand for Asuka. “Or does it make you want to sleep?” He mimed fainting, rubbing at his eyes. 

“Dance!” Asuka laughed, lighting up. She tossed the tablet aside to jump out of her chair, letting Lúcio grab her hands and pull her into a jumping sway. Hanzo watched with an amused smile on his face while Lúcio did spins and twirls with his daughter. They collapsed at the table when the song ended, plopping heavily into their seats. Asuka was too big to sit in his lap, but she pulled the other chair around the table so it was next to the DJ. Hanzo clapped his hands at the performance, glad that his daughter was able to enjoy herself for once.

“What are you making this for?” he asked. “I did not think you would continue touring after what happened.”

Lúcio huffed a laugh, wiping sweat from his brow. His locs flared out behind him, shaking as he reached to tie them up. 

“Nah, not touring. But if I can help around here-- even just lifting spirits-- I’ll do it. We can’t all bring bullets to the party.” He paused, checking that his skates were still by the door. “Man, that was fun. I don’t know, Asuka, I think you tired me out too much to go skating!”

Asuka chewed her lip, eyes drawn in worry. She ducked her head down guiltily, kicking her feet a bit. “Sorry, Mister Lúcio.” 

Lúcio patted her on the shoulder, squeezing gently and smiling. “Don’t worry about it! I’m just kidding with you.” Asuka looked up meekly. “I can skate for hours. A little dancing isn’t gonna ruin me.”

The smile from when they were dancing came back instantly. Still in her chair, she leaned in to bump their shoulders together companionably. The DJ bumped her right back, albeit more gently. Hanzo’s heart fluttered at seeing her so openly affectionate.

“Do you know how to skate, Asuka?”

She shook her head. “Uh-uh.”

Lúcio glanced over to Hanzo. Hanzo groaned internally, bracing himself for what was undoubtedly coming next.

“We should get her some skates!” He turned to Asuka, smiling widely. “We’ll see if you can keep up with me. I have a feeling you’ll be pretty fast!”

She giggled. “Not as fast as you!”

Lúcio leaned back in his chair, casual as could be in the slight clutter of Hanzo’s room. The mess had gotten away from him in the last couple days and Hanzo was suddenly starkly aware of the mess of wrappers and discarded origami sheets that littered the floor. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t get out of bed often or that Asuka tended to tear through things like a small storm. He would normally have been embarrassed, but just this once he found he was too tired to care. Healing organs took a lot out of a man. He was sure Lucio understood.

“Y’know, when I was little, all I  _ did  _ was run around.” The musician’s words were casual, but his smile was sharp and aimed right at Hanzo. “Don’t you want to run, too, Asuka?”

Asuka fidgeted in her folding seat, staring straight at the table. 

“What about sports? We play a lot of football in Brazil. You’d like it. You’re good at kicking things.”

Asuka scowled. “I don’t kick  _ that  _ often.”

“Well, when you’re mad sometimes kicking things feels good! That’s not always a bad thing. What does Dad think?”

Hanzo balked, surprised that Lúcio was including him in this. 

“Exercise is good. She should have more variety than what I can give her.” He paused, then said reluctantly, “Maybe you can teach her the game?”

“Absolutely,” Lúcio smiled, then continued. “But what about you, man?”

“Me?” Hanzo asked, eyebrows jumping to his hairline. He brushed his hand over his face, squinting at his daughter, who looked like she was about to vibrate out of her skin.

“Yeah, you should join us. Even just to supervise. I bet you’d like it.”

Hanzo hummed his consideration. “Perhaps when I am no longer under Doctor Ziegler’s watch.”

The three of them chatted a little longer, but it was all polite talk, nothing really of consequence. Before he left, Lúcio stepped close to Hanzo and lowered his voice.

“You know, when I was a kid I actually had a lot of anger. I threw tantrums, like, all the time. My mom made me take up a sport so I’d have something to do. It might give Asuka an outlet from all the chatter and...y’know, the kicking.”

Hanzo slumped in his bed, running a hand over his face. 

“I...suppose. Did the cowboy tell  _ everyone  _ what happened?”

“Don’t sweat it. Jesse has the right idea, y’know?” Lúcio tapped his fingers on Hanzo’s bed. “She  _ should  _ learn how to fall so she knows how to pick herself up again. That’s what makes us strong.” He moved to gather his skates off the floor, slinging them over his shoulder once more. “I’ve always loved music, but learning that I could use it to inspire thousands-- millions-- is what really drove me to develop my talent. I wanted to make a difference. But I couldn’t have done that without learning what bottom looked like.”

\--

Hanzo was finally allowed to leave the medbay after seven days. His back ached not from his wound, but from the stiff bed, and he was grateful to be in his own rooms again. He even had new tasks to take on, albeit ones less challenging than his usual work.

When all current agents weren’t home-- and often, even when they were-- it was unnervingly quiet around the Watchpoint. Hanzo found himself becoming nervous, even as the biotic field sent a warm tingle through his veins. After the noise of the medbay... everything was just slightly forlorn. The vast premises were empty- as if waiting for the staff that would never fill it again. The walls in disused rooms were streaked with seeping water in some places, or simply too dusty to walk in without a mask. He knew they tried to keep the place safe, but little hands-- Asuka’s hands-- were curious. He wouldn’t put it past her to explore.

She had a curious nature, and though at one time she was strictly obedient, her willingness to blindly follow was waning as she aged. She was bright. She was lively. She wanted to  _ move _ . Her mother was the same way, but Hanzo took credit for the restlessness. It made a ball of guilt rise up in his gut, a different kind of pain than his wounds. He had to do something, and soon.

Asuka seemed okay on the surface. She ran with Lúcio when he was free, kicking a ball between two makeshift goalposts in a quiet area of the loading bay. They couldn’t find skates for her, not without going into town or ordering them online, and Hanzo was loath to do either for fear of giving away their location. Instead, she ran and jumped and tripped over a ball, trying to learn tricks on a ball too large for her skinny legs. 

“She’s a patient kid, considering she’s-- what, five years old now?” Lúcio asked.

Hanzo nodded and watched from his wheelchair as Asuka awkwardly dribbled the ball back and forth on the concrete. “Almost six.”

“Being cooped up is breaking her, Hanzo. She throws tantrums sometimes over the smallest thing. And she needs to talk. She needs  _ outlets _ .”

Hanzo sighed deeply, rubbing the back of his neck to try and stave off a headache. “I  _ know _ .”

It wasn’t like he was blind to every flinch and shiver Asuka made at slamming doors or engines turning over. It wasn’t like he hadn’t noticed the way she held herself, or the way her posture sagged until the curve of her spine snapped and she fell into a massive fit-- the scary kind, where she cried silently and clenched her little jaw against the screams she obviously wanted to let out.

Then there were the more typical problems... He had been given reports during his stay in the medbay where she threw fits or argued with the others. She didn’t get enough sleep and she had a hard time falling asleep in the first place. Honestly, she had been doing that more and more often lately, even before he was injured. But it seemed that the accident had made everything worse. Although the others tried to fill Hanzo’s role, they needed rest too. They couldn’t be babysitters all the time. 

He’d hoped that moving back into the dorm suite to be with Asuka would solve some of the issues, but if anything it exacerbated them.

Worst of all the conflicts were the mundane arguments. Part of the problem was that she was nearly six. She wanted to be independent, not reliant on her father just for permission to play. He was more mobile now that he was nearly healed, able to help her dress and do her hair, but sometimes she even fought Hanzo on brushing her teeth or tying her ribbons. She’d started to unsubtly readjust the bows after Hanzo tied them, even if that meant they weren’t as neat as usual.

Her every quirk was amplified, every frustration felt more sharply: Asuka was used to being quiet, with a need to contain her emotions. Hanzo worried that her lashing out was a sign of something bigger, something neither he nor she could control. Even the short time playing with Lúcio only took the edge off for so long.

Hanzo was nearly at his wits’ end when he was forced to make a decision and move forward. 

Now that he was cleared for light work, Hanzo helped by doing paperwork or logging repairs as he finished recovering. Asuka often worked next to him when she was allowed, or pestered him for answers about what he was doing when she wasn’t permitted to follow. 

At first it was cute. Hanzo expected her to calm down now that he was out and about, but instead her belligerence got worse.

It seemed like it was Hanzo against the world-- or perhaps Asuka against the world-- when Angela finally brought up the topic of further physical activity a few days after he’d been released from medbay. By this point Hanzo was mobile enough to move around slowly, but still advised against sudden movements. He slept with a biotic field over his and Asuka’s bed to heal him faster, but he wasn’t up to snuff yet. 

It was frustrating--more so when everyone still seemed to view him as an invalid incapable of taking care of his child. It didn’t help that in many aspects he  _ couldn’t _ . She ran faster than he could walk-- and even then, he was still reliant on a wheelchair occasionally. Angela bringing it up at his daily check-up was what finally broke him. 

“Asuka has been making excellent progress in her studies,” Angela said fondly. Asuka was in fact sitting at Hanzo’s side now, set up with her tablet and large sheets of paper on which she practiced her letters. “But she needs--” Hanzo held up a hand, stopping Angela before she could finish. 

“I know.” He looked at her wearily. He  _ was  _ tired of this fight. His parents had taught him to fight wisely and...this was not a wise fight to have. Still... “Some others have suggested the same thing. Asuka needs physical as well as mental education, and I am in no state to be giving it to her at this time. Jesse brought up self-defense, which I think is a good enough reason as any other. She loves football-- Jesse keeps insisting it’s soccer?-- but she hurts herself often enough doing that. Just look at her knees.”

Angela brightened at Hanzo’s words, moving to look at Asuka’s scraped knees while she talked. “I’m glad you’ve warmed to the idea. I was  _ just  _ thinking of asking Jesse for help. With your permission, of course.” She placed a dinosaur band-aid on each knee and looked to Asuka for approval, getting it in the form of a solemn nod. “Jesse used to help run basic self-defense courses here during his Blackwatch days. So you see,” she said with a reassuring smile, “I’m sure Asuka will be in good hands.”

Her beaming face left no room to argue, and Hanzo found himself cowed. He told himself that he was just too worn out from wheeling himself around to fight her cheerful disposition, but the truth was...the truth was that Asuka  _ would  _ be exposed to many dangers; and safe as the base was, there were still cracks through which danger could and probably would arrive. He had seen that for himself before he’d even walked through the front doors. 

Another thought clawed at him. Even if this was the safest place in the world, they couldn’t stay forever. One day the dream would fall apart and they’d have to move on.

He stopped Angela before she left completely, catching the edge of her coat between thumb and forefinger just as she turned away. His eyes darted to Asuka and then back to the doctor’s open, curious face. He shaped his mouth into a grim line.

“I have one condition,” he said quietly, coughing a bit to clear his throat. He winced as the cough jarred his now-shallow wound. Angela waited, staring patiently; Hanzo still had has his fingers pinched on her coat. “I want to watch.”

\--

Asuka was ecstatic about the opportunity to learn more self-defense. She jumped on Hanzo when he told her, jostling his wound enough that he’d grunted, shooed her off to find her new teacher, and then lain down for an hour. 

She latched onto Jesse like a barnacle on the side of a tolerant whale, her skinny limbs sprinting to keep up with Jesse’s long strides as they walked around the base together. Her shyness was completely gone now, he noted with some satisfaction. Her eagerness overrode it completely.

They set up in the spacious gym. It was one of the few places in Overwatch’s base that was clean and safe-- mostly just because people actually used it. To Hanzo’s surprise, Jesse discarded his usual bulky clothes for loose gym pants and a t-shirt. Asuka wore similar gear, and it was-- admittedly-- adorable. She looked fierce, if a bit nervous. Jesse even let her help set up the equipment when they finally got down to it. Hanzo was immensely grateful that Genji was there to help Jesse out. He wasn't sure that his heart could stand Asuka getting hurt and he being unable to help her.

“Will I get to go really high?” she asked as they set up a number of low bars and planks. She nearly tripped over her own feet in her excitement, though Hanzo was sure the too-large shorts she had on didn’t help.

Jesse laughed, shaking his head and ruffling her hair. “Nah,” he drawled, lazy and indulgent. “Gotta learn how to fall first.”

“What’s so fun about falling?” she said, pouting.

“Ain’t  _ fun  _ to fall.” Jesse said. Hanzo watched with a bemused smile as he and Asuka lifted a giant padded mat out of the closet. “But I’d rather you learn how to do it safely so you don’t wind up like your Papa.” Hanzo frowned at Jesse as the cowboy grinned at him from across the room, a wink quick to accompany the smile. Asuka just frowned a bit before going back to her endless chatter.

It didn’t even stop when Jesse and Genji made her twist herself into a little pretzel while they warmed up. Asuka even laughed when Jesse was unable to do some of the poses  _ she  _ showed  _ him,  _ and Hanzo had to cover his mouth to hide his smirk. He  _ had  _ trained her on some things already, after all. It wasn’t like Jesse was starting from square one with her. 

Hanzo relaxed further with each lesson, content to lean back and observe. Jesse was in fact a decent teacher. Hanzo found that he wasn’t actually that surprised by the fact-- the man was overwhelmingly competent in matters he chose to engage with, and this was no different. He wouldn’t have taken on the responsibility he hadn’t been confident in his skill, Hanzo realized with a start one day. What else had he been hiding?

They did everything from yoga to acrobatics, Asuka rolling and spinning on balance beams and the even bars they had set up (with plenty of padding underneath). Sure enough, she learned first and foremost how to fall. Jesse showed her how to shift her admittedly minuscule weight into a roll to disperse the momentum. Later, the practiced from different heights-- a padded cube, or a chair, or finally from a raised bar. It made Hanzo’s heart lurch every time she wanted to fall from an even greater height. But Asuka stood up after on legs shaky from adrenaline, beaming proudly at every new feat.

Hanzo was nearly entirely done with treatment by the time they started inviting Hanzo into the training sessions, too. At first he was shaky-- still admittedly afraid of reopening his wound, which was almost entirely healed-- and his body cramped from disuse. Genji’s contributions to the sessions grew when Hanzo got involved: they sparred to demonstrate different grips and maneuvers to Asuka, showing her how to use the momentum shifts Jesse had shown her to escape an attacker. She nodded solemnly, her eyes grim-- clearly remembering one of her more gruesome encounters.

\--

One night after a long day of endless bouts of yoga, acrobatics, and weights, Hanzo and Genji sat together on a balcony adjacent to Hanzo and Asuka’s room. Hanzo had a small bottle of sakè on the ground next to him, and he sipped quietly while Genji sat cross-legged, enjoying a hot cup of some spicy blend of tea Hanzo wasn’t familiar with. It was late at night, Asuka snoring away in their bed, no doubt taking up the entirety of the mattress without Hanzo there to fight for his space.

“Do you remember when Father first had us start sparring together?” Genji asked absently. He looked tired, though fond. With his mask off once more, the exhaustion was clear in his eyes. Hanzo’s own face couldn’t have been much better-- he was still regaining his stamina after his couple of weeks of inactivity. 

“Father had us doing katas in the courtyard and you slipped and fell in the pond,” he said flatly.

“I was five!”

“ _ Asuka _ is five,” Hanzo pointed out. “ _ She _ doesn’t fall in ponds.” 

“Asuka doesn’t have  _ access  _ to ponds.” 

“She also doesn’t have  _ our  _ father goading her into training in front of water fixtures,” Hanzo said grimly. Genji shook his head at the memory.

“No, she has  _ you _ . And me, and Jesse, and everyone else here. That’s better than our father ever could have been for her.”

After a long pause, Hanzo asked meekly, “Do you think I did the right thing, bringing her here?”

Genji’s silence was long, and when Hanzo turned to question his brother again, he saw Genji looking at him with tears in his eyes. Genji brushed them away, gulping his tea to steady his trembling mouth before speaking again.

“ _ Yes _ , Hanzo. I really think you did.”

\--

Asuka had advanced by leaps and bounds by the time Hanzo was cleared for full duty again. He still flinched every time she tucked herself into a tight little ball and leaped off somewhere high, but watching her run so confidently or resist a hold with no hesitation made pride bloom in his chest.

He’d expected that leaving her at the base while he went on a mission for a few days would be rough, especially since she’d gotten so used to having him home with her again. Instead of crying and pulling on him though, Asuka just patted her father’s face and reminded him of what Mister Jesse had said to her.

“Don’t forget to let other people help you, Tou-san,” Asuka said sternly, hugging her father with all the strength in her little body. “Please don’t get hurt again.”

Hanzo’s face softened. He held her back as tightly as he could, reminding himself all the while that she’d be occupied with schoolwork and crafts while he was gone-- coloring and counting and jumping and hitting. She’d sleep fine without him if she was exhausted at night. He fully expected her to greet him bright-eyed and hungry for affection when he returned.

Unlucky for Hanzo, even with all the daughterly advice in the world, even teammates couldn’t stop a rogue piece of debris from tripping Hanzo while he walked back to the ship on their way home. He twisted his ankle and had to be carried back. When he limped into the hangar at Gibraltar and saw Asuka waiting for him, he expected more tears, perhaps more silence.

Instead he got a scolding.

“Why didn’t you fall like Mister Jesse showed you?” Asuka demanded, holding her father’s hand and trailing along as a few team members helped carry Hanzo to medbay.

“You’re right,” Hanzo said with a laugh, grimacing a bit at the pain as he was helped back into a now-familiar cot. “I’ve just healed, and I still did not heed his advice. What should I do, little bird?”

Asuka bit her lip as if considering her options. 

“You should help me make more origami animals, Tou-san. While you get better. Again.” What could he do but laugh at her proclamation and agree?

As he and Asuka sat sedately folding a new zoo for his temporary room, he contemplated the past month or so. Asuka had gone from weepy and silent to loud and confident, more in control of her emotions and body than Hanzo had ever seen her. 

As for himself? Well, if learning to fall made him a bit stronger, he would embrace it. Just as his daughter taught him.

**Author's Note:**

> btw, the knives Asuka uses to cook with are real!
> 
> This is pure fluff, but you can follow my NSFW blog at hhgggx.tumblr.com. I post writing, polls, and lots of other fun stuff on the regular.


End file.
